“…widening our circle of compassion…” (and new TRE group starts tomorrow)

A human being is a part of a whole… [but] he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest…. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. – Albert Einstein

Hi everyone,

Last Thursday, Orange County for Climate Action (OCCA) had a great turn-out for, “A Conversation with Craig Preston: Solutions to Climate Change”. (See more about CCL’s Carbon Fee & Dividend plan here.) Then on Sunday, we had a lot of fun (amidst the seriousness of the topic) on our visit to the Southern California location of Farm Sanctuary. You can see the photos here. I had no idea how crazy-big the pigs would be, not to mention how ridiculously tall the full grown male steers were – wow! A little intimidating until you find out they are just as friendly and affection-seeking as a cat or dog.

OCCA has included both fossil fuels and animal agriculture in its focus as these are two of the worst offenders in terms of greenhouse gas contribution to climate change. It is Interesting to note they are both highly subsidized and have extremely strong lobbies. We definitely have our work cut out for us to bring about change. Additionally, as an Orange County group, OCCA will be including issues that are extremely relevant to those of us that live locally. Regardless of what issues matter to you in this life, from good health to guacamole, from genocide-surviving refugees to a nice glass of wine, climate change will affect all of us everywhere. We could seriously use your help. OCCA meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:30p at the Living Ubuntu office and would love to have you join our efforts.

Meanwhile, self-care is key. Tomorrow, Thursday, June 4 at 4p in Newport Beach we are starting a new group for anyone that has already learned the exercises we mention so often, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). Many of you have learned TRE over the years, or possibly for the first time in January when their creator, Dr. David Berceli was out here for a two-day workshop. Many find benefit from being able to practice TRE in a group, so we thought we would create one in OC. No facilitator though – you need to be comfortable enough with TRE to be able to self-regulate on your own, unassisted. For complete details or to RSVP, click here. (What is TRE?)

Hope to see you soon.

Thanks for being involved,
Barbara English, LMFT
Founder and Executive Director, Living Ubuntu
livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005

[Ubuntu] n. Every human being truly becomes a human by means of relationships with other human beings